The Blender: How to Speak Design: File Formatting

January 18, 2017

The world of graphic design is full of questions, and if you don’t know how to speak the language you’re probably not going to have the answer. This segment of How to Speak Design tackles a big question for graphic designers and account managers alike: What is the best format for this file type? Here is a quick breakdown of some of the key players in the world of file formatting.
TIFF: Tagged Image File Format
Designers love TIFFs because they are excellent at preserving image quality and resolution, allowing images to be saved without compression (also known as “lossless”), and with or without layers.
PDF: Portable Document Format
PDFs are an industry standard for print and can be exported by almost any document program. They are also dynamic in the sense that they can be saved with and without layers (from programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator) allowing designers to manipulate the file or pull out elements as needed.
EPS: Encapsulated PostScript
Typically used for vector based graphics, EPS files are essentially self-contained documents containing design layers, a design preview and the ability to embed fonts. Vector files (such as logos) can be scaled to any size without loss of resolution.
JPEG: Joint Photographer’s Expert Group
Named after the group who developed this standard image format, JPEGs are used for “lossy” image compression, meaning image quality will vary based on file size and vice versa.
PNG: Portable Network Graphics
Intended for web use, PNGs create “lossless” image compression, meaning they keep the file size down while retaining image quality. PNGs also allow files to be saved with transparent backgrounds, which is great when you don’t want your logo showing up on your website with that pesky white box around it.
“Design speak” can be confusing, but we are here to help translate. Hopefully the next time a designer asks you for a logo, you’ll feel confident asking, “EPS or PNG?”

Written By: Janell Rowland

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